The present invention relates to a vend space allocation monitor means and method, and, more particularly, to a means and method for monitoring and determining whether an established vend space allocation configuration for a given vend system that has a plurality of allocatable vend product storage areas is consistent with a historical demand for the various vend product selections. Such vend space allocation monitor means and method are particularly useful with vend systems for selectively dispensing or vending several different types of products from product storage columns, especially for products that are of generally cylindrical configurations, such as bottles or cans, and with vend systems that have a greater number of allocatable vend product storage areas than vend product selections.
Over the years a variety of approaches have been utilized in attempts to match product stocking of a vending machine to the perceived demand for the various products to be vended therefrom. Among such approaches have been the use of multiple columns with their associated selection and product delivery means for vending major products and single columns with their associated selection and product delivery means for vending secondary products, the use of multiple columns with common selection and/or product delivery means for vending major products and single columns with their associated selection and product delivery means for vending secondary products, the use of differently sized columns to permit the stacking of cans or like items in double as opposed to single stacks, the use of half-height columns which permits secondary products to be stored in such smaller sized columns while major products are stored in full-height columns that may open out above the half-height columns, the use of columns of staggered heights with inclined racks or other storage areas above selected ones of the staggered height columns to obtain product storage compartments of varying capacities, and the use of column transfer means such as column transfer shelves, gates, and trap doors which permit those products stored above a certain level in one column to be transferred into another column for vending therefrom, some of which approaches have permitted service personnel, at the time of restocking of a particular vending machine, to set, adjust, or re-position certain elements in such particular vending machine so that the product storage therein will more closely match the empirical demand for products observed by such service personnel.
Patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,245,755; 4,699,295; and 4,705,176 all discuss the difficulties and history of trying to develop vending systems wherein product storage space can be optimally allocated to the various product types that are desired to be vended therefrom, and all illustrate approaches to the problem of space to sales allocation. While there has been considerable work devoted to the design of vending machines that will permit optimal allocation of product storage space to anticipated product demand and considerable discussion regarding the desirability of matching the product stocking of a vending machine to the sales therefrom, there has been little discussion regarding the manner in which it is determined whether or to what extent a particular space to sales allocation scheme is acceptable.
In many instances product demand may vary from location to location and machine to machine. While pre-established space to sales configurations may be established based upon national or regional statistics regarding the relative popularity of various products desired to be vended from a particular machine, it often falls upon the service personnel to determine from their observations when servicing a machine how closely the anticipated product demand corresponds to sales from that machine. If one or more types of product are consistently sold out every time the machine is serviced while other types of product remain available in abundance, the particular space to sales allocation scheme being employed is clearly not appropriate. Because of the obvious inappropriateness of the space to sales allocation scheme most service personnel would recognize the desirability o attempting in some way to compensate for or to revise or tailor the space to sales allocation scheme. Some of the tricks of the trade that may be employed by the service personnel are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,176. In certain instances, if the product storage areas of the machine can be reconfigured in some manner, the service personnel may be able, based upon their observations regarding the perceived relative popularity of the products being vended, to reposition certain column transfer elements or other reconfiguration means to attempt to obtain a closer match between allocated product storage and product demand. Even if machine reconfiguration is possible, a number of machine reconfigurations, using trial and error approaches based upon observations of product availability at the time of machine servicing, may be necessary before service personnel are able to observe during a subsequent servicing of the machine that the mismatch between product storage allocation and product demand has been resolved.
While obvious mismatch conditions may be determinable by service personnel from their observations upon servicing the machine, less obvious mismatch conditions may well escape recognition by even the most observant service personnel over extended periods of time, and, even if eventually recognized, may prove difficult to overcome by trial and error approaches. This is especially true if there is a significant mix of products in the machine or if changes in one or more products of the product mix are made.